Having sold out of all the prepared corndogs, I stopped working on the crepes, again, and dipped another dozen sausages into the blueberry batter and hot oil.

  Why can’t I be one of those multiversal travelers that has an attractive woman in their twenties as an assistant. It worked for the BBC and their tv show that I stole my sound effects from.

  She could do all the work, while I prepare fun foods and chat with fun people. Besides, a pretty face is a mainstay of marketing everywhere.

  “Hey system,”

  [No.]

  Had to try.

  Anyway, the corndogs cooked while I finished the crepe batter and cream cheese filling. I made two flavors, a sweet toffee nut apple, and a savory chive and cubed ham. Once the fillings were loaded into piping bags, I set them in the fridge to chill.

  A few more people passed by and bought a corndog after I gave them a sample, but business slowed down as we hit the midmorning lull. Things should pick up around lunchtime, and the crepes can be a fantastic desert item for the evening.

  I get it. These dishes are pretty strange for the area. Holding out samples like I'm a street magician holding out cards is just not working. If I'm still here tomorrow, I should buy a sample plate from a local merchant. I want the plate to look nice, and currently the system shop only sells single use packaging or cookware.

  As mentioned before, I don't control where I go or how long I stay. I do get to pick the dishes I serve, but I buy the ingredients from locals or the system. If things go bad, I do have a panic button, but hitting it means I have failed whatever mysterious mission the system wanted me to do. Everything has a price, Including dimension hopping.

  I definitely paid for it.

  Still though. Even with all I’ve lost, It’s pretty awesome. I go to cool places, and meet cool people. I cook amazing foods. My body is 28 again. The cherry on top is I will continue to be 28, exactly half my previous age, until this crazy ride is all over, whenever that may be. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

  A few more late morning customers come by. I sell a few more corndogs, and I get the feeling it's time to change up the menu for lunch. I clear some space for the crepe machine and pull it out of inventory. Its appearance has been altered a bit by the system too, but all the dials work. The cart is doing its magic and powering it. So after letting it heat, I start making a few savory crepes.

  I pour the batter into a tool that is a cross between a cookie cutter and a garden spade. It has a name, never learned it. It's not the traditional French style rake or spreader. But it is something I saw in a street food video on YouTube. My great niece bought me one as a birthday present years ago. The batter fills up in the cookie cutter part and then I spin the handle around the hot pan and the crepe spreads evenly.

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  I let it cook and flip the crepe with a long wooden spatula. The spatula is a wooden one in the French traditional style. I like it. It just works. Once flipped I pipe in the chopped ham and chive filling. I sprinkle on some Swiss cheese then roll the crepe into a cigar shape. I cut it into tenths then stack them on a paper plate with toothpicks. The plate looks cheap and does less than nothing for presentation, but I've already complained about that once today. I look too young to be a grouch.

  “Hey Old Man!”

  I looked over my cart to see a blond child grinning evilly with his hands behind his back.

  The boy looked to be about 5 years old and had the famous whisker birthmarks.

  “Would you like to try a..” My sales pitch was interrupted by a blast of water to my face.

  I wiped the water off and the child was nowhere to be seen. A tube of carved bamboo with a rubber balloon on the end was lying on the ground in front of my cart. I guess that's what passes for a squirt gun in this place.

  [Attention product stolen]

  My plate of samples. Gone. I laughed so hard I had to sit on the ground for a few minutes. I remember the anime said he was a bit of a troublemaker child. Can’t really blame him. He has one of the worst childhoods in fiction. I was going to give him the samples anyway.

  “Sir, are you all right?” a large ninja with bright red hair reached out a hand to help me off the ground where I had been sitting.

  “Oh, I'm just fine. Thank you for the hand though.” I brushed myself off with a towel, washed my hands, then started pouring another crepe. “ Would you like to try one of my crepes? I've just run out of samples so you will have to wait a few minutes for this to be ready”

  “Are Crepes the name for that sausage pastry on a stick I have heard about? If so, no need for samples. I'll take four.”

  “Ill go ahead and get some blueberry pancake corndogs started for you, but crepes are something a little different”

  I flipped the Crepe and then threw a dozen corndogs into the fryer. If this was who I thought it was, then I would need them. The man’s eyes tracked the sausages through the whole process of being skewered, dipped in batter, and then fried. Some anime’s talk about feeling killing intent radiating off of great warriors. This man was radiating a form of hunger that felt oppressive. I was being judged on my food. Intensely.

  I set the corndogs to cool on the display rack, and then added the savory filling to the crepe. The man’s nose wrinkled a bit and he had a look of mild disgust.

  “This is a Crepe, they can be savory or sweet. This one is filled with a blend of cheeses, ham and chives. It will have a very strong and sour flavor, especially if you are not accustomed to cheese. Some people like to put a spicy pepper sauce on them.” I point to a gourd of Franks Red Hot, the label replaced with a simple ink painting of a hot pepper.

  “ Here are the four blueberry pancake corndogs, that will be 40 Ryo. And if you wait just a minute longer the samples of the crepe will be ready.” The man eagerly accepted the sausages and had eaten all but the last one while I cut the crepe into sample sizes.

  “Oh, these sausages are very good, I’ll buy the other 8 you have there. My wife and son will love these. I’m not sure about this crepe thing. You said it goes well with hot sauce?”

  “It's a free sample so if you don't like it I'll give you your money back.”

  “Oh, ho, ho. Alright ill try one.” He picked up a bite and poured some of the hot sauce over it. He made a face. Evidently crepes were not a big winner in Konoha. He then took his remaining corndog and doused it in the hot sauce. “Oh these dog things are great with hot sauce! I’ll have to tell my son Choji!”